Heat, Suns tangle in South Beach

(SportsNetwork.com) - The Miami Heat will try to snap a two-game losing streak Monday night when the Phoenix Suns begin a road trip with a visit to American Airlines Arena.

The Heat fell in New Orleans on Friday night, then failed to take advantage of a golden opportunity Saturday. The Eastern Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks didn't have Al Horford (personal), Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll and Pero Antic -- the last three all getting the night off on the second of a back-to-back.

Atlanta prevailed, 93-91.

Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 22 points, while Hassan Whiteside pulled down 24 rebounds and scored 14 points. Mario Chalmers chipped in 16 off the bench, while Henry Walker added 10.

Miami never led but pulled within three behind a 9-1 run to start the fourth quarter. Luol Deng, who was held scoreless over the first three quarters, drained a corner 3-pointer during the surge, and two free throws from Goran Dragic cut the Heat's deficit to 65-62.

The outcome was still in doubt until Millsap connected from behind the arc to give Atlanta an 84-74 cushion, and the visitors held on over the final four minutes.

"We have to keep fighting," Wade said. "We have to find a way to win ugly."

The Heat end their homestand Wednesday versus the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Suns embark on a four-game trip east with stops scheduled in Orlando, Brooklyn and Cleveland following the Heat game.

On Saturday, the Suns saw a two-game winning streak come to an end in a 101-74 home drubbing at the hands of the San Antonio Spurs.

The Suns set a franchise low for scoring in a half (24) and were on pace for record lows in points and shooting percentage before San Antonio took its foot off the gas in the fourth quarter. They shot 29.8 percent overall.

Marcus Morris scored 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter for the Suns, who failed to build off an emotional overtime victory over the Thunder on Thursday.

"They don't boo but they don't cheer much, either," he said. "I know we're a lot better than that. I know Phoenix fans are a lot better than that. Like I said, we have a lot of genuine fans that cheer for us, the ones that's in the first row, the second row, the third row. But once you go up you feel like people are just at the game watching.

"I'm not talking about just this game. You have to take the good with the bad. We expect this to be a homecourt advantage."

Brandon Knight suffered a hip pointer in the Spurs loss and his availability is unknown.

These two teams completed a major deadline deal with Dragic coming over from Phoenix in exchange for first-round picks and some low-impact players.

The Heat have won nine straight and 12 of the last 13 meetings between the two teams. Miami has taken four in a row as the host in this series.